In the process of adjusting location or spacing of teeth for a patient, an orthodontist will attach brackets to the respective teeth. One or more wires can be installed between brackets to enable the orthodontist to move one or more selected teeth with forces applied via the wire or wires. The ends of the wires, extending from brackets, need to be trimmed flush with the adjacent bracket(s) for patient comfort. The cut wire ends are then removed from the patient's mouth.
A known cutter employs a rubber O-ring for the purpose of gripping cut off pieces of wire. The known cutter however has limitations. When the wire length, that extends from the distal end of the bracket, dimensionally falls between the width of the cutting blades and the contact point of the O-ring, the wire can be cut, but may not be held with a desired level of certainty.
FIGS. 1, 2 illustrate the known cutter 10. The cutter 10 has first and second flush cutting edges 12a, b. An elastomeric O-ring 14 is carried by an extension 16a from cutter 12a. An extension 16b moves toward O-ring 14 as wire W is being cut. O-Ring 14 clamps cut end region W-1 against extension 16b for removal provided cut end W-1 is long enough to extend therebetween. If W-1 is too short, it will be cut but not gripped by ring 14.
There continues to be a need for orthodontic wire cutters which can reliably grip short wire ends that have been cut. Preferably, such cutters will be cost effective to manufacture and be usable at least as long as known cutters can be used.